Palying cards

Happy Diwali friends!

Vajan badjayega agar khaoge mitai gheewali
Lekin kya farakh padtha hai, roz, roz todi aati hai Diwali

Khao piyo aish karo said Sallu Bhai on Bigg Boss 6. I have already had sweets overload. My friend Anu, had made a Tresleche cake for Shekar and I for our 20th anniversary. Enjoyed it with a few friends on Sat. She is such a fab baker! I am the luckiest person, who can taste so many different cakes from her.

 Tres Leche Cake



 A yummy slice!

I bought some fresh sweets from a restaurant called "Hot breads" which has newly opened here. I feel so nice, when I shop there. So many Indians come here to eat all kinds of delicacies. It feels like I am in India. Love this time of the year. There is a festive ring in the air, and everybody seems busy. Had a busy weekend again! I am participating in yet another skit folks. This is for a friend's 50th B'day this Saturday. I am aslo taking part in a dance, for the same event. So all through the weekend, I was busy with the practice. Feel guilty that I cannot spend enough time with the kids. I will make it up in Decmeber. On BB6 Sidhu paajis exit was sad, but the show needs more spice, so it might actually work out. Can't wait to see what the Big key has in store. Bollywood is getting ready for a HUGE day tomorrow. Jab tak hai SRK! I hope all goes well for him. It is very rare that a movie is opening on a weekday. Song of the day is from JTHJ.

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Unlike my North Indian friends, for me Diwali is not associated with playing cards. But today, as my friends are looking forward to a good time of some competitive card game, I am reminiscing my college days with my family back in India. My Grandma and Grandpa had 12 children of their own. Every night after dinner, they used to unwind with a game of cards when their children were well fed and in bed. Their favorite game was "Bridge". To think that my uneducated Grandma could actually put up a strong fight with Grandpa on an intelligent game. Wow! she was indeed an amazing woman! She just did not have the opportunities to prove herself. Unfortunately for her, my Grandpa died early and she had to stay with her children. She would distribute her time evenly among all her kids. I think she liked coming to our house (my Dad is her 2nd son). One of the reasons being, we all liked to play cards. Two of my cousins went to the local engineering college and would visit us, when Grandma was with us. So we had a big team of card lovers. My Mom, would not play, but would cook some delicious food for dinner along with the domestic help, who was so kind. Man! I miss those days. Our favorite game to play was '28'. I was always on Grandma's team. The cousins formed another team and my Dad and my brother made the third team. We would play for hours together. Our decibel levels were so high, our neighbors must have been cursing us. After college , the first time I played cards was a couple of months ago with few of our friends here. I am trying to understand the game of poker. It's not rocket science I know, but the sequences are so confusing to me. Lets hope I pick it up quickly before my love for cards starts to disappear. I am not sure, if it was my Grandmas enthusiasm, or being with family or the anticipation of yummy food after the card game, that I am mesmerised by, at this point, but I sure miss those times. Shub ratri my friends!